


If You Want Me To

by bestliars



Category: Hockey RPF
Genre: Edmonton Oilers, Houston Aeros, Hurt/Comfort, Long-Distance Relationship, M/M, Minnesota Wild
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-04-13
Updated: 2014-04-13
Packaged: 2018-01-19 04:39:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,461
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1455727
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bestliars/pseuds/bestliars
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“What can I do? I could fly to Texas? I would fly to Texas, if you want me to. Do you want me to beat up Taylor Hall? I could do that. Well, I could try."</p>
            </blockquote>





	If You Want Me To

**Author's Note:**

> so I found a picture of Jonas Brodin with a broken nose and then...I just...It was a lot to handle.  
> written to Stellarer in chat. Quite a while ago actually. I found this completed in a doc during my spring cleaning! woo!  
> Thanks to Stellarer for betaing <3  
> All of the specifics of Brodin’s injury is from my head, so I don’t have a source to cite on that, but if you want facts / to be reminded of how cute Oscar Klefbom is: http://www.edmontonsun.com/2012/11/27/oilers-prospect-oscar-klefbom-latest-to-fall-to-the-shoulder-injury-bug  
> Set in the fall of 2012.

There aren’t really good things about being injured. Mostly it means dealing with boredom and frustration and having too much time to think about how North America isn’t like home. It does mean he has plenty of time to Skype with Oscar, who’s hurt too, and just as listless.

Jonas would way rather be playing, but getting to spend more time with Oscar — even if it’s only digital — isn’t the worst silver lining possible.

Their first month apart had been hard.

They had played on the same team, or at least in the same organization for _so_ long. It got them to where they are, with a best friendship that cynically could be called codependent, but whatever, that isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Plus there was the _dating _thing or whatever, which — Jonas doesn’t really know how to explain it.__

__It makes a lot of sense inside his head. It happened naturally, after spending so much time so close. He still isn’t sure how it’s supposed to work now. They’re trying the distance thing, but they don’t really know what that’s going to be like. It means that they’re actually thinking about and devoting energy to their relationship, instead of just letting it happen. That’s what they have to do this year since they’re playing on different teams on different continents._ _

__Or at least they should be playing, but instead they’re both hurt. Jonas is back in Houston after visiting the doctors in Minnesota, and they say his collarbone is healing fine on its own, he won’t need surgery or anything._ _

__That doesn’t stop Oscar from being ridiculously concerned. He has lots of questions, which he doesn’t give Jonas any chance to answer._ _

__“Are you okay?” He asks. “What can I do? I could fly to Texas? I would fly to Texas, if you want me to. Do you want me to beat up Taylor Hall? I could do that. Well, I could try."_ _

__Jonas lets him ramble, accepting that it’s coming from a place of affection and mild panic. Eventually Oscar goes quiet, seeming to have gotten out everything he needed to say._ _

__Jonas responds to each point very calmly, "No, you don't need to come to Texas.” That would be complete overkill (and sort of nice, honestly, but not a realistic option)._ _

__He explains again that “It was a shoulder to shoulder hit, obviously,” not a headshot, no matter what they may have called it on the ice. “It broke my collarbone, that's my shoulder,” which is plenty of evidence that it wasn’t a headshot. It certainly wasn’t a good hit, but Jonas doesn’t need to have his honor defended. “You don't need to beat up Taylor Hall. Please don't try.” That’s honestly a terrible idea. “He's going to be your teammate pretty soon."_ _

__Oscar gets all gruff about that. He grumbles, "Well, I don't care. He hurt you. I don't like that."_ _

__It’s kind of sweet. Boneheaded, but sweet. Jonas is a little bit used to this though. Oscar can get protective sometimes. Jonas hasn’t thought much about why this might be. He’s pretty sure he doesn’t want to know the answer. Oscar wants to protect him, that’s just how things are. It shouldn't be as attractive as it is._ _

__Like how last year Jonas broke his nose. Or to be precise, he had his nose broken, and then had to leave the game. It hurt like hell at first. He was a little bit rattled, and they put him on the good drugs. What he he vaguely remembers from the immediate aftermath is following Oscar around the rink, how Oscar held his hand on the way home after he got checked over by the doctor, and Oscar generally being a very steady presence, a great friend, and an A+ boyfriend._ _

__The good thing about his nose was that it looked way worse than it actually turned out to be. After the first couple days it hardly hurt at all, even though it still looked like a mess. The bad thing was that Oscar didn’t believe that. He kept on treating Jonas like he was something fragile, something delicate and precious, which was nice, kind of._ _

__Jonas liked knowing that he was respected, that was pretty cool, but he could handle a little bit less respect, especially in terms of personal space. He broke his nose, not his everything. Yeah, it probably wouldn’t be good if he bumped it again, that's why he was wearing a cage on the ice, but he really didn’t think this was a good reason to stop making out. He felt pretty confident that they weren’t going to aggravate his injury kissing._ _

__Eventually — after most of a week (he was eighteen, patience wasn’t his strongest suit) — the lack of affection got frustrating, and he decided to do something about it. Oscar doesn’t always pick up on subtle things, so Jonas figured that it was best to take a direct approach._ _

__So he got Oscar alone, and said, "Kiss me."_ _

__Which Oscar did — only not on the mouth, nowhere close, not anywhere that had the slightest chance of leading to another would bump into Jonas's nose._ _

__Oscar kissed the side of his neck, his collarbones, his chest, his abdominals. He took Jonas's hand and kissed every finger, and his palm, and the pulse point in his wrist, and up his arm. Then he paused, resting his head on Jonas's shoulder and grinning._ _

__It was so overwhelmingly sweet, romantic and careful in a way they generally weren’t — still aren’t really. Jonas didn’t know what to do with himself. He threw one arm over his face and tried not to think about how brightly he must be blushing._ _

__Oscar just sat there and smirked at him. Jonas was sure that Oscar was smirking, even before he opened his eyes to check, just in time to see Oscar bite down on the ridge of his clavicle — not too hard, but firm enough to leave a mark that lasted — before kissing the same spot._ _

__Oscar's hand rested on Jonas's stomach, rising and falling as Jonas inhaled sharply as Oscar's teeth hit his skin, before exhaling heavily in sync with the kiss._ _

__“So, I kissed you,” Oscar said. “Good?”_ _

__Jonas nodded, feeling a bit shaky._ _

__"So, what do you think I should do next?" Oscar asked._ _

__Jonas said, "Well, I think you're very good with your mouth, so..." and Oscar knew what he meant._ _

__That had been a good afternoon, in Sweden, more than a year ago._ _

__Now Jonas is spacing out while talking to Oscar on Skype with an ocean between them._ _

__He doesn't know how long it's been since he last said something; he's been staring into the distance remembering how good they had been together._ _

__He focuses on the screen now, look the pixels of Oscar in the eye and says, "I miss you."_ _

__Last time he was hurt it was just his stupid nose and Oscar was there to look after him, and this is worse than before, and he's on his own, and Oscar’s hurt too, and they can’t look after each other._ _

__"I miss you too," Oscar says. "I could come to Texas, if you need me to. I could come to Texas and beat up Taylor Hall, or just make you tea, or make you breakfast, or do whatever you want me to."_ _

__"I want you to stay where you are,” Jonas says, which isn’t really true. He would love to have Oscar with him, but he knows it isn’t possible. “You heal up so you can help the team, alright?”_ _

__Oscar nods. "I'll make you very proud."_ _

__That is just...kind of a lot to handle. Jonas doesn't really know what to say. He settles on, "I'll be proud of you no matter what."_ _

__They keep talking until Oscar has to go to bed. They say their goodnights, and Jonas feels like a total dork blowing a kiss at the screen with his good arm, but Oscar smiles, so it's worth it._ _

__Maybe they're fucking far apart now, maybe Oscar isn't there to _kiss it better _but they still care about each other, they're still good, they still have the memories of what they did before, they're making new memories all the time.___ _

____They're lucky enough to live in the 21st century with Skype and texting and email, and that means they can stay close. Jonas may be injured and sore and homesick, but he's still lucky, because Oscar cares about him, and he cares back. They care enough to make a lot of stuff better, from broken noses to busted clavicles to oceans of separation. None of that matters as much as the stupid way they make each other smile._ _ _ _


End file.
